It’s no surprise that reaching your fans on social channels is becoming almost impossible to do on an organic level, i.e. no paid promotion behind your social content. Social promotion and advertising has become a normal – even necessary – part of a brand’s social strategy.

But that’s not to say you have to give up on organic content all together. More and more we’re seeing people lament that their organic content serves no purpose and are asking whether they should even bother moving forward with un-paid content. While it can seem fruitless at times, here’s why we think organic content still has a strong place in your content mix.

1. It’s a great way to test and learn. We often test which pieces of creative engage with fans and then use those insights to move forward with a paid strategy. It’s a simple and effective way to optimize your budget and get the most bang for your buck.
2. Things can change on a dime. Generally social channels don’t warn people about the algorithm changes they make to their platforms. Anything could happen tomorrow and putting all your eggs in one basket can come back to haunt you. Having a steady mix of content positions you well for most eventualities.
3. Organic is for the fans – and trust us, there are still lots of them out there. We approach paid vs owned with the mentality that paid is generally for the masses and organic is for the diehard fans – the ones who love your brand and talk you up to their friends. They care less about your ads than they do about an actual opportunity to engage with you.

   Which leads nicely into…

4. Keeping things authentic. Remember when social marketing was new and fresh and everyone was cautioned to approach it with an authentic voice? Well that still rings true. Taking your TV ad or the creative from your latest flyer and turning it into social content is almost always going to fall flat (whether it’s paid or organic). Fans see through it and feel like you don’t really care and will respond in kind. Brand apathy is about the worst thing you could wish for.

Recently we had the opportunity to speak at a recent CNW Toronto event on this very topic, which they’ve summarized really well here. And here’s the presentation we delivered. What do you think – is organic still playing a part in your content mix?

Posted by
Gary Edgar
on 23/10/2015